


Writer's Block Cures

by watercrab



Category: Marvel 3490, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Arranged Marriage, Body Modification, Drunkenness, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M, Not Beta Read, Rape/Non-con Elements, Unplanned Pregnancy, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-25 08:32:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3803776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watercrab/pseuds/watercrab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snippets of fics when I should be writing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arrangement

**Author's Note:**

> I have a bad habit of getting another story idea while working on a story. These little nuggets form and what should be a one-shot ends up looking like another multiple chapter fic. They are not completed but strangely enough I know the plot outline for each story. 
> 
> Each one was written as a self challenge. Some are compliant to the movies, others go on a completely different tangent. And each one is not edited; meaning these are the rough rough draft. 
> 
> They were collecting dust and I wanted to share them. If you have a favorite or love to see one grow, leave a comment and give me your thoughts!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MCU meets Marvel 3490. This was a challenge for me to create a reason why Steve and Toni married. And of course, the two fall in love.

Toni Stark couldn’t stop chuckling when the security guard scanned her license to make sure that the small piece of plastic was not a forgery.  She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she had to use a fake I.D. and even if she did used one, she would’ve made sure that sucker was real.  The guard studied her and then the picture on the license before handing it back to her.

“You’re just jealous that my picture looks as fabulous as me.”

The guard only grunted and thrust a plastic basket into her hands.  “Please remove all metal items and place it in the basket.”  He pointed at the metal detector.  “Remove your shoes and slowly walk through.”

She frowned as she removed her beloved high heels.  “If I see a scratch on these Manolos, I will sic my CEO on you.” and dropped the shoes in the bin.  “You don’t want an angry Pepper on your ass.”  The watch was removed but she left her mother’s necklace on, it was childish and perverse but the only way the government was going to give her a pearl necklace was her own.   She unbuttoned the first three buttons of her blouse to expose the arc reactor, “By the way rent-a-cop,” she addressed.  “You know who I am but just to clarify, I need this to live and it cannot be removed.”   

The security guard just rolled his eyes.  “You are expected in the Liberty conference room on the fourth floor Ms. Stark or should I say _Iron Man_?”

Toni let out a huff, walked through the metal detector and gave the guard the middle finger after the heels were put on and the watch was firmly clasped in place.  A young lobbyist dropped his paperwork when she gave him a flirty smile while entering the elevator.  For fun she gave the struggling lobbyist a wink while she was pressed the correct button.  Once the doors were closed, she leaned against the wall and began to think why she was called for an impromptu meeting.  She wasn’t at the Capitol Building so it couldn’t be a congressional hearing and she hasn’t personally destroyed or offended anything that was considered a national relic, even though she was getting tempted to fire a repulsor beam in Steve’s face. 

The elevator’s chime-like ding pushed her musings aside and Toni headed down the hall to the assigned conference room.   She snorted at the nameplate before entering and was promptly greeted by two senators, three congressmen, and a congresswoman.  “Oh wow,” she said, mentally kicking herself.  She knew exactly what this discussion was about.  “I was kidding about the orgy.”

The congresswoman wrinkled her nose in disdain.  “Please sit down Ms. Stark.”

Toni decided to do as she was told.  “Love the pearls,” she commented casually as she slid into the chair.  “Did you get them at the last congressional hearing?”  She gave an innocent smile when the woman glared at her.

“ _Ms. Stark_ ,” she hissed.

“Why am I here?” Toni asked completely ignoring the congresswoman.  “I think I said I would not talk about the Registration Act unless Captain Rogers is in the same room with me.  And since he’s-“ the door opened behind her and she wanted to scream.  She really hated the universe and elected officials.  “-here, we can begin the circle jerk.  Did anyone bring the lube?”

“Toni?” Steve asked in voice that had a mixture of surprise and horror.  “What are you doing here?”

She let her head fall back and inspect Steve.  He was wearing his modern Army uniform which was a bummer because she really liked his vintage one.  “The same reason why you’re here.”

Steve’s face goes from clueless to anger in seconds which she absolutely loves.  She has no problem calling herself a masochist.  “There is nothing to talk about,” he growled out.

“You do not want to see Captain America angry,” Toni teased the officials in a whiny Yoda voice, “you do not like him when he is angry.”

One of the senators stood up and fixed an impressive glare at the two heroes.  “You have no choice Captain Rogers and Ms. Stark,” he drawled out.  “The American people want something to put in place to protect them.”

“So hunting down Americans who are different is the answer!”

Toni angrily spun in her chair to the super-soldier.  “For crying out loud Rogers!” she snapped.  “You’re acting like we’re planning to re-elect Hitler!  Responsibility needs to be addressed!”  She flinched when his blue eyes bore into her, reminding her why they can’t be in the same room anymore.  Emotions flashed through his eyes and she knew he was ready for a verbal fight.

“Enough!” the second senator shouted killing any ugly words that were about to be thrown.  He waved his arms to the other elected officials.  “We have been in discussion about this and we all agree that this is a serious issue.  This country is grateful and indebted to the dedication of the Avengers, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four.  But this is dividing the country and we’re afraid that it will become ugly.  We need to protect every citizen no matter if they posses powers or not.”  He let out a heavy tired sigh.  “This country barely survived the first civil war.  I can’t imagine what would happen if we have another.”

Toni sank guiltily into her chair.  She didn’t know it was that bad.  Judging by the way Steve slowly sat in his chair; he was just realizing the same thing.  “So what now?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound like a scared child.

One of the congressmen cleared his throat.  “We compromise.”

*             *             *             *

It took them three days of yelling, screaming, and discussing for everyone to agree on something.  On the fourth day, a young intern presented a beautifully typed and bounded document.  Steve read through his copy making sure that every little detail was accounted for before closing the binder.  He could feel the hard stares from the officials and it was making his skin crawl. 

He returned the hard stare at the elected officials after he finished reading and gave a nod.  “I can agree to these terms.”

Toni sat next to him, swinging in her chair and humming under her breath while her fingers flipped through the pages.  He barely recognized the tune but it sounded like _Welcome to the Jungle_ that she happily introduced to him a few years ago.  She was in, as Pepper explained to him, her CEO mode. The genius was giving the situation her full attention but she was making sure that everyone gets hell. 

“I can too,” Toni agreed as she closed the binder.  “But I would like to show this to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four before this is introduced to the Congress.”

The senator folded his hands.  “That can be done.” 

Steve felt like he was in a business merger with Toni, making sure that all the “I”s were dotted and all the “T”s were crossed.  He have heard that she was ruthless in the boardroom when she wants something done her way and suddenly he felt very happy that he was agreeing with her on the compromise.  He knew their fights were bad but he can’t imagine the wrath that she was known to unleash.  He couldn’t help but shudder at that thought.

“This will be the document that would be presented to the House and the Senate, right?” Toni tapped the mentioned item with her finger.  Her small delicate nimble fingers looked odd without the grease and grim under the short nails.  She never wore rings, always complaining how annoying it was to have her hand caught in something.

“Waiting to be published,” the congresswoman answered.  “Once everyone agrees to the terms.”

“Make sure that there are two extra copies,” Toni said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.  “Captain Rogers and I will be there when this is introduced.”  Steve was surprised by the flash of anger in her brown eyes.  “We will know if anything has been changed.”  It was a threat and everyone in the room would be dumb to think otherwise.

The congressman coughed.  “Of course.”

There was a sudden shift in the air that made Steve’s body tense.  Something was happening and he didn’t like it.  His fingers itched for his shield which was sadly hidden away in the hotel room he was staying and he knew Toni was defenseless because she wasn’t wearing the bracelets or brought her suitcase.  He quickly glanced at the genius and wasn’t surprised seeing the ugly sneer.

“You fuckers,” she snarled.

“Don’t act surprise Ms. Stark,” the congresswoman bit out.  “You of all people understand how beneficial this could be.”

He knew exactly what they were talking about.  “Isn’t that a little antiquated?”  Toni snorted with amusement.

“Yes,” the senator replied.  “But it’s still a common practice.  You can’t tell me that this wasn’t going on in your time.”

Steve couldn’t deny that.  It was a means of survival growing up because it created alliances and families were fed.  He has read the newspapers of sudden engagements of couples once a business merger has been completed as a child.  He attended quickie weddings of soldiers during the war so their brides could safely leave the war zone.  Hell, even his own grandparents were forced to get marry so they could leave Ireland.

“What if we refuse?” he challenged.

 “This,” the senator said pointing at the document, “will be nothing and we’ll be back to square one.”

Steve jumped out of his chair.  “Are you threatening us, son?” he shouted.  It was the dumbest thing he could’ve said and he knew Toni was recording this meeting so there will be countless teasing on her part.  He won’t be surprised if that ended up as a ring tone.  “We worked very hard to get this done and now you’re telling us that it was for nothing!”  His body trembled with anger and he had a sudden urge to hit something really hard.  “We will not be forced into something that would help you stay elected!”  He turned to the genius.  “Right Toni?”

Instead of agreeing, Toni was in her chair looking contemplative.  Her index fingers tapped her chin as if she was thinking about a very complex equation.  “What if we say yes?” her voice was soft but powerful.

He wanted to scream.

“It will be signed into law within twenty-four hours after it was introduced,” the second senator answered.  The rest of the officials nodded their heads in agreement.

“You can’t be serious!” Steve snarled.  “This is ridiculous Toni!”

He refused to flinch when her brown eyes stared at him.  “Give us two weeks,” she said in a voice that meant business.  She never took her eyes off of him, so he closed his.  “We will give you an answer in two weeks.”

 “Very well,” the third congressman answered.  He slowly stood up and the rest of the officials joined him.  “We will hear from you soon.”

Steve tried counting to ten when the room was clearing out.  His anger was still raging when he reached twenty.  He was able to unclench his fists when he reached fifty.  At sixty, he slowly opened his eyes to a slightly amused Toni Stark standing with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

“Are you done grandpa?” she teased but the tone was harsh.

“Are you actually considering this?” he shot back.

The amusement turned into a mask of blankness.  “Yes.”

“Why?” he roared.  “Tell me why you’re agreeing to this blackmail!”

Toni actually looked fearful and took a step back.  “Because this is the only way and you know it!”

Steve took a deep breath and counted to ten again.  Toni was right but he was refusing to accept it.  “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t another way,” Toni replied softly and leaned against the conference table.  The movement caused her pant leg to raise a little exposing the incredible high heel.  He could never understand how her and Pepper could wear those ridiculous shoes without breaking their ankles.  “You heard what the senator said; the country is starting to divide over this.  There will be blood no matter whose side wins and I don’t want any more blood on my hands.”  She gave a shudder.  “I don’t want to think how I’ll react if Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, the Avengers, or you dying over this.”

The genius was right again but Steve wanted to be stubborn.  “So sacrificing our freedom to choose is the answer?”

Her lips twist into a wryly smile.  “You know me,” she said with nonchalance, “I have terrible self-preservation skills.  This time it won’t be me almost dying one way or another.”

Steve refused to smile at that comment.  “It’s disgusting.”

“Arranged marriages, the second oldest occupation in the world,” Toni joked but the amusement was not in her voice.  She pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Listen Steve, this is nothing new.  The Vanderbilts, the Fords, the Kennedys, hell even my parents did this!  It’s keeping the _status quo_ or the circle of life if you need a Disney reference.”

“I’m not Thor.”

Toni kept on talking.  “If you’re worried about me, there’s nothing to worry about.  I know you’re not after my money or trying to climb the social ladder.  I’m not in a serious relationship, let alone any type of relationship.  In fact, I haven’t had sex since Happy and I broke up!”

Steve choked on his tongue.  “That was three years ago!”

“Has it?  Well shit, I guess that declares me a virgin.  I wonder if I can wear white at my wedding now,” Toni said off-handily.  “Besides that embarrassing bit of information, there’s nothing you should be worried about.”  She paused.  “Unless you already have a girlfriend.” Another pause.  “Or a boyfriend, I’m cool with that.”  She gave a filthy smile.  “Very.  Cool.  With.  That.”

“No!” Steve said rather quickly feeling the heat of the blush.  “I’m not seeing anyone.”

He swore he saw some form of disappointment with that.  “Okay so that won’t be problematic,” Toni answered flippantly.  “Hey, I have no problem if you pick up a lover.”

This time he pinched the bridge of his nose.  “That’s really insulting.”  He quickly placed his hand over her mouth to stop the verbal diarrhea and stared into her eyes.  “You’re right that there will be blood on our hands if we don’t agree to this but there are a lot of factors we need to think about and discuss before we give the government our answer.  Let’s tell everyone about the compromise and get their opinion.”  He yelped when Toni licked his hand.  “That was very childish!”

“Sheesh, you’re acting like I gave you cooties,” Toni smirked before becoming serious.  “You talk to the team, I’ll talk to Pepper and Fury, and then we talk to Xavier and Richards because I’m not dealing with Reed by myself.”  She headed to the door.  “I’ll give the government a list of demands and expectations if we do decide to get married because I’m planning to have one-ball-and-chain and that’s you.”

 Steve met her at the door and opened it.  “Gee, you know how to make a fella feel wanted.”

Toni winked at him.  “I’m good that way, Cappie.  So, are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“I know a great place nearby that would knock your white sport socks off.”

He offered his arm in jest which Toni rolled her eyes but took it anyways.  “What is it?”

“Fondue.”

For the first time since this whole nightmare started, Steve burst out laughing.  He ignored the look on Toni’s face as he continued laughing down the hall.  “Fondue sounds great.”


	2. Appletinis and Happy Endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Non-powered AU.
> 
> Steve is the Director of Design and Marketing at Stark Industries and he accidentally sleeps with his boss.
> 
> This one was fun to create because Maria is alive and Pepper is Tony's step-sister. This was inspired by Gimme More by Britney Spears.

_It’s Britney bitch._

Steve groaned at the pulsating bass noise.  There was a sharp pain in his ass that informed him what he did last night, his head was pounding, and the lump sleeping next to him meant that he slept with Bucky again.  He buried his head under the pillow as he mentally cursed out his best friend for blackmailing him to go to Vegas and buying those awful Appletinis.  He cursed at himself for drinking those disgusting green cocktails.  He doesn’t know why but those stupid drinks always turn him into a needy bottom.  He really should go back to blaming Bucky because he was the idiot that got romantically involved with his stunt double

_It’s Britney bitch._

Steve poked his head out from the pillow and stared at the phone that was resting on top of a pile of clothes.  He couldn’t understand why Bucky would be calling him since the man was sleeping next to him.  He let out annoyed huff and crawled out of bed, not caring if he was completely naked.

“Yeah?” Steve let out a yawn and scratched his behind.  There was something off about the room.

“Appletini!” Bucky crowed through the phone making Steve wince at the noise.  “Please tell me that you went balls deep with that sexy brunette and his amazing Technicolor ass!”  Steve hated how perky his friend sounded.  “Or did he went balls deep with your greedy ass?”

Last night hit Steve like a brick wall.  He remembered the numerous Tom Collins, Highballs, Long Islands, and whiskey shots.  He remembered the handsome brunette with the liquid caramel eyes and a goatee that he couldn’t stop touching.  He also remembered the dancing, the grinding, the kissing, the touching, the blow job in the elevator, the moaning of names, and the insatiable sex in a hotel suite that had the most amazing view with promises to watch the sunrise.

A hotel suite that Steve wasn’t staying at.

“Steve?” Bucky’s voice was full of concern.  “Are you okay?  Please tell me that you’re not married!”

The lump in the bed shifted.  “Do you always play Britney Spears?” the husky voice asked and to Steve’s horror, he knew that voice.  The person rolled to his side and gave a sleepy smile, his eyes still hazy from last night.  “I’m not a morning person but for you, I’ll make exception.  Repeatedly, if I have to.”

Steve never went sober so fast in his entire life.  Breathing became hard as his heart dropped to his stomach.  He had sex with Tony Stark.  He had sex with the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark.  He had sex with the president, owner, and head of the board of directors of Stark Industries Tony Stark.

He had sex with his boss.

He did things _with his tongue_ to his boss.

His boss did things _with his tongue_ to him.

Tony raised an eyebrow and blinked.  Then he blinked again.  The man blinked for the third time before those caramel eyes widened.  “Steve?” he croaked.  “Steve Rogers?”

“TalktoyoulaterBuck,” Steve mumbled and threw his phone to the floor.  He ignored the loud cracking sound as he tried to cover himself with his hands.

“Did you just break your phone?”  Tony asked sitting up.  “Are you covering yourself?!  I think modesty flew out the window last night!”

Steve didn’t point out that his boss was covering himself with a pillow.  “Oh my god, Mr. Stark!” he shrieked.  “I’m terribly sorry!”  He began searching for his clothes.  “I’m not like this!”  He stumbled as he tried to put his pants on.  “I’m not going to talk to the press!”  It felt like his face was on fire and he was ready to burst into tears.  “Where’s my phone?”  He hastily pulled on his shirt and without saying another word, he ran out.

****

“What did you do?” Pepper prompted without any greeting.

Normally Tony would’ve disagreed with Pepper’s assumption but for once she’s actually correct.  “I’m in big trouble,” he replied.  “Like I think I’m going to hurt the company trouble.”

There was a pause.  “Is there a dead hooker?  Stole cocaine from a drug cartel?”  She let out a gasp.  “Did you steal a baby?”

He should feel insulted.  “Sexual harassment,” he whispered.  “I think.  And before you ask, I spent an hour talking to the hotel manager and the owner to delete any footage of me receiving a blow job in the elevator.”  He began to pace.  “I need my lawyer.” 

There was a strangled sound and he knew that Pepper was planning to kill him.  “Sexual harassment?” she squeaked.  “What did you do!”

“I’ve slept with employee.  At the time, I didn’t know it was an employee and alcohol was involved.  God, that sounds pathetic.  How do frat boys get away with this shit?”

“I can’t believe you actually slept with a woman,” Pepper retorted.  “You’ve been gay ever since you saw that awful _Captain America_ TV movie as a kid.”

“Still have my gay card since it wasn’t a woman.”

There was a long drawn out breath.  “You slept with a male employee?”  She was eerily calm and Tony knew he was dead.  “A male employee that could talk to the press?  Forget your lawyer, I’m calling Natasha!”

Tony paled.  Natasha Romanoff, otherwise known as the Black Widow, was the most ruthless corporate lawyer in the nation.  She’s a deadly petite ninja in the courtroom and if anyone tried to pay her off, she would simply castrate them.  She was the only lawyer that wasn’t corrupted by Obie’s power and she happily destroyed that man with her own hands.  Tony’s convinced that Natasha has a strand of testicles in her jewelry box instead of pearls. 

“No!” he cried out, he wanted to tear out his hair.  “He promised that he wouldn’t talk to the press!”

“And you believed him?” Pepper shouted.  “Tony, he could sell the story to the highest bidder!  He could blackmail the company!  Do you know what would happen if the board found out?!”

“Actually, I’m more worried that he would quit!  We need him!”

Pepper literally growled through the phone.  “You slept with the Director of Design and Marketing.”

“His name is Steve.”

“You slept with the person that is responsible for SI’s reimaging!” Pepper screamed.  Her voice went high and Tony tossed the phone on the bed, praying that she wouldn’t climb through the phone and kill him with her bare hands.  “Our only silver lining and you tarnish it with your DICK?!”  Tony could hear her heaving.  “You are so dead!  I’m going to tell my dad and your mom on what you did!”

Swearing, Tony dived for his phone.  “Please don’t do that!” he pleaded.  “Our parents will give me that disappointed look for the next three years!  I can fix this!  Let me fix this!  I’ll make Steve stay!”

“You can’t make him stay if he wants to leave, Tony!  And you can’t buy him off!  Just let Natasha handle it!”

“But Pepper!”

“You are coming back today, no exceptions!  Bye Tony!”

Tony screamed and threw his phone at the wall.  The phone cracked and dropped to the ground, only bouncing once before landing next to Steve’s forgotten broken phone.

“Fucking step-sisters!” 

****

The Monday morning brought sickness to Steve’s heart.  After the fiasco of the morning-after with his boss; he quickly packed his bags, told Bucky that there was a work emergency, and took the first flight out.  The ticket was expensive but his salary was more than impressive so Steve didn’t feel really bad about it. 

The flight, on the other hand, was a nightmare.  His mind was in battle between the beautiful drunken memories of Tony moaning and whispering his name and the harsh sober morning of finding out that he slept with his boss, his very straight boss.  What are the odds of that happening?  He spent half of his trip trying to write his resignation letter but he couldn’t get the words out. 

He was hired to improve the image of Stark Industries after the indictment of Obadiah Stane and the disbanding of weapon manufacturing.  The stocks dropped but Steve knew that the company could bounce back by moving their back-burner projects to the front-burner and show that Stark Industries did care about the consumer.  Stark Industries would become the metaphorical phoenix and Steve really wanted to be part of that.

Since Vegas happened, it was Stuttgart all over again.

He let out a sigh and entered the elevator.  He gave a polite nod to the passengers and returned to his thoughts.  He would have to find another place to live because living in Stark Tower would be out of the question.  Which would be a shame because he loved living at the tower; it was just an elevator ride up to his office and the employee perks were amazing.  He exited on to his floor and nearly ran into his assistant.

“Morning Peggy,” Steve mumbled, trying to smile but failing.

“Morning Steve,” she answered holding a small delicate white coffee cup.  She fell in step behind him as he started walking to his office.  “I’m afraid to ask how Vegas was.”

“Don’t want to talk about it Peg,” he grumbled entering his office throwing his messenger bag on his desk.  “I have a meeting with Sam in a half an hour,” he pointed at the cup, “and I don’t need whatever that is.”

“Your meeting has been rescheduled and this is espresso, which is not for you.”  She turned to her right.  “Here you go Mr. Stark.”

Steve spun around and sure enough there was Tony sitting at the small conference table.  “Thank you, Ms. Carter,” he said accepting the cup.  “Can you shut the door?  Sensitive information between Mr. Rogers and me.”  There was a click of the door.  “We need to talk.”

“I’m planning to resign, Mr. Stark,” Steve said evenly.  “What happened over the weekend was highly inappropriate on my behalf and you should not feel uncomfortable for the sake of the company.  Sam Wilson is familiar with the marketing campaign, so the transition should go smoothly.”

“I was just as inappropriate.”

“But you were drunk.”

Tony raised an eyebrow.  “Are you saying you weren’t?”

Steve flushed.  “No!  I was drunk also!”

“Then it was two drunk consenting adults that were acting inappropriately,” Tony answered standing up.  “My step-sister is concerned that you’ll talk to the press or blackmail the company.”

Steve was pretty much insulted.  “I would never do that!”

“That’s what I told Pepper,” Tony smiled.  “I was more afraid that you might quit and I can’t let you leave.”

“You can’t force me to stay!”

“And that’s what she said.”  Tony moved towards the bank of windows.  “My company needs you, Steve.  I can produce the products but promoting?  I can’t do that.  You can win the board and public, I know you can and if you leave, I’ll be the biggest idiot ever.”

“So this is about your image?”

Tony sighed and Steve saw the weariness in the man.  “To be honest, it is but it’s also SI’s image.  I can’t let it be destroyed by Obie.  This is my company and if I want it to fall, then it will be on my terms.”

Steve closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  “Okay, I’ll stay but I want honesty from now on.  If you become uncomfortable with me at any time, tell me.  I will leave and you don’t have to worry about a scandal.  You have my word.”

“What makes you think I’ll be uncomfortable?” The smile Tony gave was sad.

“I’m an openly gay man and I’m very proud of who I am.”

“I’m jealous of you that you have that freedom,” Tony answered.  “Except for family and a select number of friends, no one knows I’m gay.”

Steve wrinkled his nose.  “No offense but if you are trying to make me feel better.”

Tony laughed.  It was rich and warm.  “You can ask Pepper but I’ve been gay since I realized _Men’s Health_ made me feel funny.  My family has been accepting but if the board found out, I’ll lose everything.”

“But the women!”

“Have you ever noticed that the women I supposedly slept with became famous in their own right?  They needed the boost and I needed a beard.  The men I’ve been discreet with are in the same boat.”

“The antics?”

Tony shrugged.  “A rich kid with too much money and time on hand.”

A strange silence fell between them.  It was awkward and comforting at the same time.  Tony gave this little smirk and Steve knew he was grinning like a big goon.  He didn’t know how long they were standing there just smiling but the spell was broken when there was a knock on the door and Peggy’s head appeared.

“I apologize for interrupting but Ms. Romanoff is here and would like to speak with Mr. Stark.”

“Thank you, Peggy,” Steve replied still smiling at Tony.  “Mr. Stark will be out shortly.”

The door closed again.  “She’s going to kill me,” Tony said with an even bigger grin.

“Seems so,” Steve agreed.  He stuck out his hand.  “Hi, my name is Steve.”

Tony looked perplexed but breaking out with a smile.  Steve couldn’t help but notice how his eyes danced with amusement.  “Tony Stark.  Nice to meet you, Steve.”

****

Tony recognized his mother’s perfume before actually seeing her sitting on his couch in his penthouse.  “Hello mother,” he greeted while undoing his tie.  “What brings you here today?”

Maria Stark-Potts glanced up from her paperwork and gave him a warm smile.  “Hello darling,” she answered in her husky voice.  “How was your day?”

Tony would never deny that his childhood wasn’t perfect; his parents came from old money and old ideas that children should be seen and not heard.  Teenage rebellions, spoiled bratty antics, alcoholism, drugs, Howard, rehab, second marriages, and medical emergencies had driven a wedge between his mother and him.  There was a point that the two didn’t speak to each other for two years but somehow they managed to reconcile with the help of the patient widow Herschel Potts and his daughter, Virginia “Pepper” Potts.  The man should earn a Nobel Peace Prize for dealing with the Starks for the last twenty-eight years.

Tony frowned but kissed her cheek.  “You didn’t answer my question, mother.”

Maria hummed.  “Claudia dropped this off,” pointing at the wine bottle on the coffee table.  “She wanted your opinion before she makes the order for the gala.”  She returned to her paperwork.  “I don’t know why she thinks that she needs your approval for the dining since it’s _my_ foundation’s gala.”

Tony rolled his eyes as he head to the wine bar to retrieve a corkscrew.  “Claudia knows I have excellent taste.  If you had a say, it would’ve been vegan bean curd and triple-filter tears of orphans.”  He opened the bottle and poured a glass.  “Why are you here?”

“Oh darling,” his mother laughed.  “You should know better!  I use unicorn’s tears for the bean curd!  Orphan’s tears are only used when I’m kicking kittens.”  The smile disappeared.  “I heard about today.”

Tony took a sip of wine and frown.  “Pepper?”

“Wrong red-head.”

“ _Natasha, figures,_ ” he snarled.  “I have it under control mother.”

“Anthony, I know you do.”

“Then why are you here?” Tony shot back.  “If you’re not worried about little Tony Stark screwing things up like he used to then why are you here!”

His mother pushed herself off the couch and walked towards him.  He wanted to wrap his arms around her and cry but he was a grown man and he still can hear Howard’s voice, _Stark men never cry._ To his surprise, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug.  “I know you are thinking about the board.”

Tony rested his cheek on her head, enjoying the comfort that the hug was giving him.  “I need to make this right.  It’s my company.”

“But you’re unhappy,” Maria replied.  “Anthony, darling, it’s still your company if you told them.”

“And you know if the stocks dip, the board would use my orientation as the reason.”

Maria rubbed his back.  “Believe it or not, it breaks my heart to see you unhappy.  I hate the character you have to play for everyone.  I just want the world to see how happy and proud you can be.”

He burst out laughing.  “You’re just saying that because you want grandkids!”  He gave her a tighter hug.  “Maybe once everything blows over, I’ll talk to the board.”

The two stood in the kitchen, swaying to an imaginary song until someone cleared their throat.  Tony looked up and saw his step-father standing nearby.  “Hello Herschel.”

“Hello Tony,” Herschel Potts replied with a large smile.  “I take it that your mother gave you one of her pep talks?”

Maria wrinkled her nose.  “You make them sound so horrible,” she whined as she pulled away from Tony.  “My pep talks are wonderful.  Awe-inspiring.”

The men snorted.  “Mother,” Tony smirked.  “When I told you that I was gay, you told me that I should never have too much lube.”

“It’s true.”

“You said the exact same thing to Virginia when she had questions about sex,” Herschel added.

“Also true.”

Tony saw the twitch on his step-father’s face as the man tried not to laugh.  “Sometimes I wonder why I love you.”

Maria sniffed.  “Because I’m bendy.”

“ _Mother!_ ”

This time Herschel burst out laughing.  “We need to get going, Maria,” he smiled.  “I promised Virginia that we’ll meet her and Phil at the restaurant on time.”  He gave a nod to Tony.  “You should join us.”

Tony wanted to spend time in his workshop but having dinner with his family sounded perfect.  “I should,” he agreed.  “Agent needs to fully understand what type of family he’s getting involved with.”

His mother sighed and shook her head while Herschel raised an eyebrow.  “His name is Phil, why do you keep calling him Agent?”

Tony corked the bottle of wine.  He’ll have to talk to Claudia about the selection; he didn’t care for the taste.  “The man dresses like he should be working for the government or a super-secret spy organization not the CFO of a multi-billion dollar company.”


	3. Voice of Reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is after Captain America: Winter Soldier.
> 
> Sam visit New York and notices something between Tony and Steve.
> 
> This one definitely hit a brick wall which was a shame because there are ideas plus a hint of Natasha and Sam!

Sam Wilson let out a whistle when he approached the entrance to Stark Tower.  Or was it Avengers Tower since the letter “A” was the only one hanging.  He gave a shrug, adjusted his duffel, and entered the building hoping that Steve was waiting for him since the man wasn’t at the airport.  He glanced around the crowded but spacious lobby and was disappointed that Steve wasn’t there.  Sam frowned and quickly checked his phone to see if he missed any messages from the super soldier.  The last message he had was Steve confirming the flight information.  Annoyed and confused, Sam headed to the security desk.

“Can I help you?” the security guard asked, sounding completely bored. 

Sam noticed the obvious glance to the duffel bag.  “My name is Sam Wilson; I’m supposed to be meeting Steve Rogers today.”

The guard snorted.  “Yeah right,” he mumbled and picked up the phone.  Sam quickly became annoyed; his first trip to New York City will not end in jail time.  “I got a gentleman here saying that he has a meeting with Captain Rogers.”  The guard’s face paled, which impressed Sam because he never saw dark skin go white that fast.  A young woman appeared out of nowhere and handed the guard a manila envelope.  Without being subtle, she checked Sam out and gave him a flirty smile before disappearing.  “I’ve received the envelope,” the guard said, his voice quiet and uneasy.  “I will personally escort First Lieutenant Wilson to the private elevators.”

“No need to escort me,” Sam replied once the guard hung up the phone.  “Just point me to the right direction.”

The guard opened his mouth, probably to protest, but quickly shut it.  He opened up the envelope and handed Sam the contents.  “The gold key card gives you access to all public and private floors.  The black credit card is from Stark Industries; Mr. Stark said you should use it during your visit.”  He pointed to a door on his left.  “The private elevator is through that door.”

Sam didn’t have to press the key card to the door as it opened on its own.  He stepped inside the tastefully decorated foyer and the door slid quickly shut.  A panel open and Sam stepped right in without questioning.

“Good afternoon, Lieutenant Wilson,” a cool crisp British voice announced in the elevator.  “My name is JARVIS, an artificial intelligence.  Sir is waiting for you on the communal floor.”

The elevator didn’t lurch when it started to move.  Sam glanced around trying to find a camera or something but instead focus his attention to a black bar above the button panel.  “Where’s Steve?”

“Upper left-hand corner for the camera,” JARVIS said, sounding completely amused.  “Captain Rogers is not in the building.”

“What?”

“Sir will be happy to explain.”

The elevator stopped and the doors slid open.  Sam stepped out and let out a loud whistle by the elegance of the masculine modern floor.  “Steve never told me that this place is fancy.”

“Because Steve doesn’t know taste if it bit him in the ass,” a gruff but amused voice answered.

Sam turned to the voice and smiled at the middle-age man that was leaning against the wall.  “You know how old people are,” he said with a smirk.  “They don’t appreciate the finer things in life.”  He extended his hand.  “Sam Wilson.”

The man accepted it.  “Tony Stark,” he smiled.  “Steve told me that you were coming to visit.”

“Steve is trying to convince me that I should move to New York.  He’s winning because I have a meeting with a VA hospital in Manhattan.  I’m specialized with helping soldiers transitioning into civilian life and soldiers suffering from PTSD.”

“My Foundation does a lot work with them,” Tony replied.  “If you need any references, I’ll be happy to give one.”

“Thank you!” Sam answered gratefully.  “I’ll keep that in mind.”  He remembered the credit card.  “Thank you for the key card but the credit card was a little too much.”

Tony scoffed.  “Use it,” he said.  “I’ll make Steve pay me back.”

“Speaking of which, where is he?”

“Did you know that there’s a huge difference between Captain America and Steve Rogers?” Tony asked instead.

Sam crossed his arms.  “Yeah,” he replied.  “Steve Rogers can be a little snarky.”

“Oh good, I’m not the only one then.  Then you know that Captain America is very punctual.”

“Your point?”

“Steve can be like an absent-minded professor,” Tony explained.  “If he’s not in Captain America mode, then there’s a possibility that he forgot to change his shorts.  Last week he practically tore apart this room to find his pencil.”  There was a snort of amusement.  “That stupid thing was behind his ear the whole time!”

Sam laughed.  “Yeah, he told me about that.”  He decided not to mention that Steve referred Tony’s living room as _his_.  “I’m glad that he’s in good spirits.  After….” He paused, not knowing how to phrase SHIELD, HYDRA, and Bucky.

“Oh no,” Tony responded shaking his head, “he was an asshole to deal with when I invited him to move here.  Went through punching bags, punched a couple of walls, pissed off Bruce, tried to drink himself stupid but instead my best stuff is all gone, got in a yelling match with me, got in a yelling match with Pepper and boy I wish you were there for that, the whole nine yards.  I think he went through the five stages of anger twelve times within a week and that was before he told me what happened.”  He waved his hands.  “Enough about that; show me the wings!”

The excitement poured off the genius and Sam couldn’t help but smile.  Steve mentioned that Tony would want to see the Exo-7.  “Can’t, it was destroyed in D.C.”  The frown on Tony’s face made him dig into his duffel and pull out a folder.  “But I brought the original plans.”

“Gimme!” Tony shrieked and ripped the folder out of his hands.  Sam was pretty sure that the genius would hump Bucky’s arm given the chance, if excitement over a folder was any indicator.  Tony paused, his lips were drawn tight and his brow furrowed.  “Where did you get this?”

“The Air Force had it for testing.  It was never tested until an attack in Afghanistan.”

“And it flew?”

“Saved my life twice.”

Tony swore a blue streak.  “I’m glad that this saved your life but the Air Force shouldn’t have this.”  He flicked his fingers on the folder.  “And I don’t know why my R&D would sign off on this.”  He pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Fucking Stane.”

“I’m confused.  Isn’t this your company’s design?”

“It’s my personal design!” Tony yelled, throwing the folder on to the sofa.  “I designed this!  Stane must’ve stolen it to please the board!”

Sam sighed.  “Still lost.”

Tony started to pace.  “I was high on cocaine because my asshole of a boyfriend left me for a socialite when I designed this!  I thought I dreamt up the design when I couldn’t find it!  Fuck!  I wish you were still alive Stane because I need to fucking kill you!”

“Are we talking about the Tiberius Stone incident in ’98?” Sam asked, because apparently that was the only thing he could grasp.

Tony froze and slowly turned towards Sam.  There was horror on his face but it quickly disappeared to a blank mask.  The genius stood tall and glared him.  “I swing both ways.  You have a problem with that?”

“Nope,” Sam answered shaking his head.  “Besides I wasn’t a fan of Team Stone.”

He saw the tension leaving Tony’s body as the man smiled at him.  His brown eyes lit up and ran to the folder.  “I can make it better,” he muttered, quickly flipping through the pages.  “If this flew while I was on a cocaine induced high, then imagine the possibilities when I’m sober.”  He frowned on one page.  “It will be sleeker, faster, and damn sexier.”

“I like sexy.”

Tony snapped his head up.  “We need to go down to my workshop.”

Before Sam could have a chance to answer, a new but familiar voice was heard.  “Who’s we?”

Sam turned to the visitor and gave a wave.  “Hey Steve!”

“Sam?” Steve asked looking very confused.  “I thought I don’t have to get you until Thursday.”

“It is Thursday.”

Steve blinked at the answer and quickly went to his pockets.  Tony was at his side, accepting the notebook that the super soldier was carrying.  Which Sam thought was peculiar.  “Why didn’t the alarm go off?” he asked, finding his phone.  “I programmed after I received your flight information so I wouldn’t forget.”  He let out a groan.  “The battery died!  Geez Sam, I’m so sorry!  I hope you didn’t have any problems!”

Steve looked truly upset about forgetting to pick him up that Sam didn’t know what to say.  Tony plucked the phone out of Steve’s hand.  “I can create an alert system to tell you to charge your phone.”  He made a clicking sound with his teeth.  “I wonder if I could extend the battery power on the next model.”  He gave a giddy smile.  “Cool!  I have wings and a phone to redesign!  Off to the workshop!”  He paused.  “Unless….”

Steve smiled.  “I want to catch up with Sam.”  He plucked the notebook out of Tony’s hand.  “I’ll put this away in ou…er…I mean…I’ll take Sam to my floor, so he could settle down.”

Sam raised an eyebrow.  That was interesting.

“Sure.  I’ll see you later.  Sam it was good seeing you.  I mean it about the reference.”

“Thanks Tony.”

There was more awkward shuffling between the two that Sam would want to say that the two men wanted to give each other a hug or something.  Instead Tony gave Steve a kind smile and disappeared. 

Steve faced Sam and gave one of his bashful smiles.  “He’s a great guy, once you get to know him.  Let me show you my floor.”

Sam nodded.  Very interesting indeed.

****

“Hey baby girl,” Sam greeted when he entered the large communal kitchen after his run.

“Hey gorgeous,” Natasha purred silkily while wrapping her arms around him.  “I take it you’re here to see New York’s newest fossil.”

Sam gave her a big hug and pulled away.  “Said fossil wants me to move to New York.”

“How come newcomer gets to give you pet names but I can’t?” the man sitting on the counter grumbled.  “The last time I called you darling you put a bullet in me!”

Natasha gave a disdain look.  “Because newcomer is devilishly handsome.”  She pointed at the man on the counter.  “Sam, this is Clint Barton.  Clint, this is Sam Wilson.”

Clint raised his eyebrows.  “So you’re the other birdie.  Nat never stopped talking about you since D.C.  She practically sounded like a teenage girl.”

Sam let out a laugh when Natasha rolled her eyes.  “I’m sure you look fantastic in rollers,” he joked at Clint.  “Birdie?”

“Hawkeye.” Clint said, as if that explained everything.

“Don’t ask,” Natasha warned.  “Clint would start flexing his biceps and ask you to throw things for him to shot at.”  She handed Sam a glass when he reached for the orange juice.  “Is Stark fixing your suit?”

Sam nodded while pouring himself a glass.  “Yeah.  He’s pissed because it turns out that my suit was stolen plans from his personal stash.  Apparently the Falcon wings were a product of a cocaine buzz.”

Clint snorted.  “And it flew?!”

“Saved my life twice.”

“But it flew!”

“You broke him,” Natasha said with wonder in her voice.  “That’s a very impressive talent.”


	4. No Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was another challenge for me. Inspired by LePeru's one of many beautiful artworks, I wanted to write a very dark story with a happy ending (I'm a sucker for a good happy ending). This one focuses on non-consensual elements, abuse, trauma, sex slaves, manipulation, suicidal thoughts, and recovery. The Avengers assembled but not as superheros.
> 
> Warning: There are non-consensual elements in this chapters.

Tony tried not to let his nervousness show in a room full of filthy rich people.  He was known for playing with the rich and sleazy.  He created the image but there was something in the air that made his skin crawl and his stomach churn.  It was the way the guest held themselves, pretending to be bored but excited about the night.  These people have done this before and all he wanted to do was to escape.  The last time he had that feeling, he was at MIT and a former friend invited him a night out on the town.  He remembered how his skin itched and instantly refused the invite, the next day he found out that his “friend” was arrested for rape and assault.  Since then, he avoided that feeling at all cost.  Even debauchery has its limits.

_“Stark,”_ Natasha’s voice hissed in his ear.  _“Stop being jittering, the camera is shaking.”_

Tony hummed and casually grabbed a flute of champagne from a waiter.  He brought the glass to his lips.  “I don’t like this,” he whispered before taking a sip from the flute.

_“You shouldn’t have volunteered,”_ was the sharp replied.  _“There are people who are perfectly trained that can handle this.”_

A corner of his lip quirked up before the champagne returned to his lips.  “Like you?” he mumbled.  “This operation would’ve been over once you entered the room.  And Clint can’t even act rich if his life depended on it.”

Clint responded with a “ _true dat.”_

“But there is something going on here that makes this billionaire playboy uncomfortable.”  Tony downed the rest of the champagne. 

There was a pause.  _“Then do it for Cap.”_   Another pause.  _“And stop shaking!”_

He grunted in response while placing his glass on a passing serving tray.  Natasha was right; he had to do it for Steve.  This was their only lead since the super soldier disappeared three weeks ago over a simple recon mission.  The team was on edge, missing their fearless but compassionate leader.  Tony was missing Steve too.  The super soldier became his closest friend, confidant, and the only person that remembered to feed him.  Having no Steve in his life made his life rather depressing.  It was that thought alone that made Tony question his feelings towards the other man and the weird vibe that was brewing between them.

Tony swallowed the sigh and moved through the crowd effortlessly.  Men gave him a slight nod and women gave him a small smile.  It was a comforting fact that he wasn’t Tony Stark tonight.  Tonight he was Heinrich Zehnder, the multi-billionaire recluse from the Bavarian region of Germany.  It was just annoying that he had to shave off his goatee, dyed his hair blond, and remembered his German lessons.  The horn-rimmed glasses were his design though, a mini-HUD display that kept him in contact with JARVIS and the team.

His eyes roam across the ballroom gathering information that might be considered useful.  Natasha’s voice became background noise as she rattled off names, occupations, and how each guest has no criminal background.  Worry twist around Tony’s heart, their only lead to Steve became a dead end.

_“What’s with the stage?”_

Clint’s voice disrupted his thoughts and Tony glanced around.  His dark musings lead him towards a raised platform with a large screen.  There were guests hovering around being anxious as men checked their watches and women played with their jewelry.  Something cold began to form in his stomach.

“I’m having a bad feeling about this.”

_“Abort,”_ Natasha ordered.  _“Get out of there Stark!”_

The lights dimmed out in the ballroom and the crowd began to swarm around him.  “Too late.”

The people around him instantly went silent as a slim man wearing a perfectly tailored tuxedo walked onto the raised platform.  Everyone began to clap as he waved and smiled.  “Good evening dear friends,” his voice was smooth, velvety, and there was a hint of an Eastern European dialect.  Tony did a scan but nothing appeared on the mini-HUD.  “Tonight is a very special auction and I know everyone is excited for it.  As usual, items up to bid will be shown on the screen behind me.  Highest bid wins.  Payments are made by account transfers and once payments have been completed, you’ll be directed to your purchased items.  As usual the highest bidder of the night pays first.”  He clapped his hands.  “Shall we get started?”  Everyone cheered.  “Excellent, here is the first item to bid.”

Tony covered his mouth when the first image appeared on the screen.  He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  It had to be a joke, he wanted it to be a joke; because there was no way what he was seeing was real. 

_“Shit,”_ Clint growled out through the comm.  _“Sex slaves.”_   Then the archer asked the question that no one wanted to ask.  _“What does this have to do with Cap?”_

_“I’ve contacted SHIELD,”_ Natasha answered instead.  _“A strike force is standing by on our count.  Just hang in there.”_

Tony only could nod and continued to watch the images on the screen, each one becoming more graphic than the last.  The auctioneer gave out details about the victims and what type of activities that they would be perfect for.  The guests jeered or cheered depending on who won that particular bid.  They were acting like this was nothing, that the victim was nothing but an object. 

“Now it’s the moment that you’ve been waiting for,” the auctioneer announced with excitement.  Tony could feel the buzz pulsating around him as the guests pushed themselves closer to the stage.  The auctioneer, loving the attention, began to hum and dance.  Amused at the auctioneer’s antics, the crowd began to clap along.  “Who’s strong and brave, here to save the American way?” he sang out.

Tony paled.

“Who vows to fight like a man for what’s right, night and day?”

Natasha and Clint were screaming in his ear.

“Who will campaign door-to-door for America?”

The crowd laughed.

“Carry the flag shore to shore for America, from Hoboken to Spokane.”

The auctioneer jumped back and swung his arm towards the screen.

“The Star Spangled Man with a plan!”

There was a millisecond delay between the image appearing on the screen and Tony moving his hand to turn off the video feed from his glasses while ignoring Natasha’s shouts.  Cheers erupted around him and people began talking excitedly.  There was no need to have JARVIS confirming that the man on the screen was Steve.  He just knew.

The image was Steve in the full Captain America uniform minus the pants, his boots bright red against his pale calves.   A black blindfold covered his eyes but Tony could see that the silk was wet from the tears.  He was on his knees while his head rested on the bed and his arms restrained behind his back.  The position was meant to humiliate and it was working judging by the heavy wet breathing and the blush on Steve’s face.  Tony noticed that Steve was not struggling in his restraints meaning that his captors found a material that could withstand a super soldier.

Taking in a deep breath, Tony forced himself to look at the naked flesh.  Steve was wearing a harness that was keeping a large red _something_ in place.  The leather strap continued down the crack of his ass to a second harness that held his cock tightly.  A flash of metal caught Tony’s eyes and to his horror the tip of the shaft looked liked it was pierced.  Averting his eyes back to Steve’s face, he noticed a black collar around his neck and the leash.  The black leather trailed from the neck to the cock harness and finally attaching itself to Steve’s bounded feet.  Wanting to turn his head away, Tony forced himself to look so he wouldn’t look suspicious.

“Captain America, ladies and gentlemen,” the auctioneer leered at the crowd, “the first Avenger, a national treasure, the leader of the mighty Avengers, and America’s golden boy!”  He stood up straight and grabbed his lapels.  “For the right price, he can be yours.  Everything you see, you get.  And here’s the ultimate selling point, he’s never been touched!”

Tony found himself snorting at that comment.  Except for the team, no one knew about Steve’s preference towards men and his sexual misadventures as pre-serum Steve or USO Steve.  It was a strange team bonding night when everyone decided on who can make Steve blush.  Instead it became a coming out party when Steve shocked everyone when he told them about the quickie blowjob he gave to a male model during a private art session.  Tony still can’t get the Jager stain that came out of Clint’s nose off the wall.   

“How do we know that’s Captain America?” One of the guests yelled out.

The auctioneer smiled and snapped his fingers.  A lovely woman wearing practically nothing was holding Steve’s shield in her hands.  Tony had to tell himself to unclench his fists.  “This is the great Captain America’s shield.  Made out of pure vibranium, it’s the only one in this world, perfectly honed to fly through the air with deadly accuracy.  This shield can withstand anything.”  In one fluid motion, the auctioneer pulled out a gun from his suit jacket and fired three rounds at the woman.  She screamed and thrust the shield in front of her as her only attempt of protection.  The bullets hit the shield and just dropped to the ground.  The auctioneer turned to the crowd and gave them a deadly smile.  “Including bullets.”  He returned the gun back to his jacket.  “Let’s start the bidding.”

The ballroom erupted into noise as the guests began yelling out their bids.  Tony ducked his head into his chest so he could speak into the microphone.  “Nat,” he said loudly over the crowd, “what’s the limit on that account?”

There was a pause.  _“We can call in the strike force,”_ she answered.  _“We have all the evidence we need to put these people away.”_

He swallowed.  “We can’t,” he replied.  “Steve’s in a bad way and I want to limit how many people seeing him down to one.  Once again, what’s the limit?  You better answer fast or we’ll lose Steve forever.”  He almost added _if we haven’t already_.

_“There are no limits on the accounts.  It’s designed as an escape window for the agent.  Once used, the agent has six hours to get out of the country before anyone notices that the account is a fake.”_

“Thank you.”  Tony turned his head towards the stage and yelled out in a thick German accent, “Five hundred!”

The ballroom went silent and every eye was on him.  The auctioneer blinked at him a couple of times.  “Five hundred what?” he asked calmly.

“Five hundred million Euros,” Tony replied just as calmly.  “And another hundred million for the shield.”

The smile on the auctioneer’s face was perverse and greedy.  “Sold for six hundred million Euros!” he yelled gleefully.  “That concludes our night.  If you made a purchase tonight, one of my lovely assistants will come and escort you to the back for the final arrangements.  Enjoy the rest of your night!”  He fixed his attention to Tony.  “Herr Zehnder, please follow me as you had the highest bid tonight.”

“Of course,” Tony answered with nonchalance.  He forced himself to shake the hands with the some of the guests as he walked up to the stage.  He pried the shield from the shaking woman’s hand before going into a separate room.  He gave a dirty smirk to the auctioneer’s raised eyebrow.  “I have plans for the shield.” 

The auctioneer just laughed.  “I heard that you would be here tonight but I thought it was just rumors,” he said in perfect German.  He gave Tony a tablet.  “Please enter your account information here.  Once everything clears, you can go and collect your prize.”  Tony entered the code with Natasha’s help and handed it back to the auctioneer.  The man looked it over and after a few seconds, he gave a huge smile.  “Danke, Herr Zehnder.  Your prize is in the penthouse.”  He pointed at the gilded doors to the left.  “Exit through those doors and take the elevator.”

Tony gave one of his patented smirks.  “Auf Wiedersehen.”  He moved quickly and efficiently to the elevator.  He slammed the button to the penthouse once the doors were shut.  “JARVIS, I’m going silent.  Make sure that no one hears me, see anything, or overrides the code,” he ordered as the elevator slowly went up to the penthouse.  “Also get the suit ready, I’m blowing this Popsicle stand once I find Steve.”

_“All communications have been disabled, Sir.  The only outside contact is me,”_ JARVIS answered.  _“The suit is en route.  It will be at your location once the strike force move.”_

“Excellent.”

The doors opened to a lavishly decorated foyer with Mozart playing in the background.  Tony slowly exited the elevator and calmly walked into the foyer.  He jumped when his hand brushed against the heavily decorated sideboard and when he looked down he saw the bottle of champagne chilling in a silver bowl.  Disgusted, he pushed himself away from the sideboard while wiping his hand.  Everything about the penthouse gave him a creepy sex deviant axe murderer vibe.  And he did not want to be in that movie.

“JAR-”

_“Already scanning for bugs and surveillance devices,”_ his AI interrupted, sounding rather agitated.  _“The penthouse is clear.”_

Muffled cries were heard in another room and Tony broke into a run.  He kicked the door opened and froze in horror.  He knew what he was expecting from the auction but just seeing it in person was disturbing.  A yell that was bubbling was lodged in his throat as his fingernails dug into the doorframe.  Steve was presented on the bed, his ass in the air and his blindfolded face was towards the door.  Judging by the odd angle, he turned his head when Tony kicked the door open.  He let out a harsh cry when his squirming caused the leash to tug on his cock.

“ _Mercy!_ ” Steve sobbed to him.  His body shook in a mixture of pain and pleasure.  “Please give my friends mercy!  I won’t leave!  I’ll do anything!  Just give my friends mercy!”  The begging was completely out of character from a man that doesn’t take shit from no one.

Tony felt the rage boiling in him.  Someone knew.  They knew that Steve couldn’t be tortured by traditional means.  They knew that Steve would choose death if that meant saving the world.  Someone knew Steve’s weakness.  The only way to successfully torture Captain America was to threaten his friends.  Threaten death and Steve will practically do anything.  The urge to return to the ballroom and kill every single person in there was great and Tony would make sure that each death would be painful.

The terrorists had it lucky.

“Steve,” he breathed out, forcing himself into the bedroom.  “Steve, it’s me.”

Steve froze.  He licked his lips a couple of times.  “Tony?” he whispered, sounding completely shocked.  “Is that really you?”

“Yeah buddy, it’s me,” he answered.  He kept his eyes on Steve’s face as he gently climbed onto the bed.  He ignored the way his friend’s body flinched.  He was undecided on which item to remove first; the restraints or the blindfold.   Steve was already panicky and either option might hurt him or Tony.  “Steve,” he said as he began unbuttoning his shirt.  “I’m going to remove the blindfold.  I’m going to look different because of some crazy SHIELD undercover shit but I promise you that it’s me.”

“Promise?”

“I always keep my promises to you,” Tony teased.  He smiled when he heard the amused snort from his friend.  His fingers went to the blindfold and undid the knot.  The wet silk was peeled away from the cowl.  “Don’t open your eyes yet.  Let me get the headgear off.”  The collar was holding the cowl in place which Tony quickly unbuckled and pulled the cowl off.

Steve let out a heavy sigh and his body relaxed somewhat.  Wet blue eyes blinked opened before they focused on Tony’s face.  He stiffened at first until his eyes travelled down to the exposed arc reactor.  He relaxed even more.  “You look horrible as a blond,” he replied hoarsely.

The snort of laughter was unexpected but not offensive.  “You telling me,” Tony retorted.  “This is about bad as the time I dyed it back in ’85.”

A sob was heard under the laughter.  “You have to tell me that story,” Steve gasped.  “I just want to get out of here.”

“You’re going home,” Tony promised as he pulled the leash free and removed the cuffs around the red boots.  He studied the rest of the restraints.  The bindings around his arms were attached to the harness, so when Steve tugged on his arms the vibrator went deeper.  “Okay,” he breathed.  “Just give me a few seconds and I’ll get you out.”

“No!” Steve yelled and tugged on the restraints.  His actions caused his dick to twitch and he moaned.  “Just free my hands and let me do it!”

“I can’t Steve!” Tony pleaded.  He lowered himself so his face met with Steve’s.  “You can’t do this by yourself.  You have to trust me.”  His heart broke when Steve averted his eyes in shame.  “I will never tell anyone what happened in this room.”  He didn’t know what compelled him to do it but he kissed his friend’s forehead.  “I’ll take it to my grave.”

Steve’s body relaxed either from the declaration or by the comforting kiss.  He closed his eyes and nodded his head.  “Okay,” he whispered.  “I trust you.”

Tony nodded and quickly went to his knees.  His hands went to the arm bindings and began unbuckling the restraints.  The bindings were unique as they were twisted around Steve’s forearms in a figure eight.  When the left arm was free, Tony gently rubbed the wrist to get the blood flowing back into the hand and before he let the arm fall on the bed, he pressed his lips to the wrist.  He did the exact same thing once the right arm was freed.  The clasp for the restraints and the harness was located at the small of the back.  He reached for the clasp but stopped, his eyes going wide at the intricate design.

“Tony?” Steve gasped.

He shook his head.  “Sorry,” he whispered.  “The harness is like a puzzle.”  He leaned back to studied the harness more.  “I need to remove the contraption around your dick.  There might be some touching.”

“Just get it off!”

Not even pausing to take a deep breath, Tony lowered himself on the bed and crawled under Steve’s chest.  He slowly rolled onto his back and tried to make sure that his crotch was not in Steve’s face.  The small harness was pretty much an elaborated cock ring.  The device was obviously too small for Steve as his erection was turning to a violent shade of purple.  If the situation was different and their relationship was more intimate, Tony would’ve admired it, maybe worship it. 

He shook his head from the thought, if wishes were horses.

Reaching up, he bypassed the gleaming but strange looking piercing and unsnapped the two buttons that held the harness together.  Steve let out a wet whine when the material fell away from his cock.  Tony wiggled away and moved to his backside.  He gently pulled the harness away and the balls slipped free, earning another whine from the super soldier. 

Tony reached for the clasp at the small of the back and released it.  The leather straps dropped away from the muscular hips and was only held by the vibrator.  Deciding to remove the vibrator like a band-aid, Tony reached for the device but stopped.  He blinked at it a couple of times, his mind screaming at him on what it really was but not really comprehending it.  He stuck his finger out and touched the base of the vibrator and to his dismay his finger slipped into Steve’s ass.

Steve let out a yell.  “Tony!”

“Shit!” he exclaimed.  “I’m sorry!  I’ve only heard of these things in anime porn!”  His hand gripped the device tightly.  “I’m pulling this out in one go.  On three; one, two,” he pulled the device out, “three!” 

Steve’s body went stiff as the device was removed.  He slowly moved to his knees but his movements were jerky.  Tears streamed down his eyes as a fiery red blush covered his face.  “Tony,” he licked his lips.  “I need…I need….”

Tony was instantly in front of him.  He wiped the tears away from his friend’s face.  “Talk to me Steve,” he whispered.  “What do you need?”

The blush intensified.  “The rod,” he choked out.  “Please….I just need….can you…..please….”

“The rod?” Tony asked, finally looking down at the strange piercing at the tip of Steve’s dick.  There was a metal wire snuggly wrapped underneath the head and another piece of wire went from the head to the tip of piercing, which was starting to look more like a cap.  He frowned at the design.  “What the hell is that?  Seriously, _what the hell is that?_ ”

_“A prince’s wand,”_ JARVIS answered.  _“The metal rod is inserted in –“_

“Lay off the porn, JARVIS,” Tony muttered.  “Can I remove it without hurting Steve?”

_“I believe you simply pull it out Sir.”_

“Great,” he mumbled.  He looked at the super soldier.  “Steve, I’m going to pull this thing out.  Whatever reaction you have, I’m not going to judge.”

Steve lowered his head into Tony’s neck and grunted.  “Just do it.”

Following the directions that JARVIS presented through the lenses, Tony removed the strange ring around Steve’s head and slowly pulled the wand out.  He bit his lip when Steve bit into his shoulder, his screams muffled into the jacket.  When the rod was finally out, Steve snapped his head back and let out a yell as he came.  Tony felt his hands and clothes being covered by the warm ejaculation as Steve fell back into his neck.  The room was silent until sobbing was heard.

Quickly wiping his hands on his suit jacket, Tony wrapped his arms around Steve.  “You’re okay,” he whispered in what he hoped was comforting.  “You did well.”  His fingers went into his hair.  “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”  He felt the tears against his neck as the sobbing went louder.  “You were so brave.  I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you in time.  Please forgive me for being late.  I’ve should’ve been here sooner.”  Steve dug his nails into Tony’s back as he continued to sob.  “Please forgive me.”

_“Sir, the suit has been waiting at the window for the last fifteen minutes,”_ JARVIS’s voice whispered.  _“The strike force has successfully detained the individuals in the ballroom and is now searching for the victims.  I would kindly suggest that you should escort Captain Rogers to the nearest SHIELD facility.  Dr. Banner is waiting.”_

Tony blinked.  Fifteen minutes?  The whole ordeal was only fifteen minutes?  It felt like hours when he entered the penthouse and found Steve bounded and assaulted.  He gently pulled away from the super soldier and just brushed the blond hair away from his face.  Steve flinched at the contact and his eyes had a distant look to them.  Tony had seen that look before.  A former classmate had that look.

“Steve?” he whispered.

Suddenly Steve was pawing at the armor.  His movements were frantic as he tried to rip the offending article off.  “Get it off,” he panted.  “It’s tainted.”  His eyes looked distressed.  “Dirty.”

Fearing that he would hurt himself, Tony helped him removed the remaining articles of the Captain America costume.  Steve quickly removed the harness that was hanging around his hips and threw it across the room.  The device made a loud banging sound when it hit the wall.  Ignoring the strange way Steve went silent after the bout of emotion and how he was just standing in the middle of the room naked; Tony searched the bedroom for any article of clothing.  He practically shouted for joy when he found a white robe hanging in the closet.  He slid the soft robe onto Steve and made a mental note that the distant look had returned.  Making sure that nothing was left behind and SHIELD having enough evidence; Tony tossed the remaining articles of the uniform, the restraints, and the harness into a pillowcase.

Steve flinched at the pillowcase in Tony’s hands.  “No.”  He shook his head.

“I have to,” Tony answered.  He quickly went to his friend’s side and gently cupped his face.  “We need all the evidence that’s available and we are going to find the bastard that did this to you,” he promised, mentally cringing at how lifeless Steve’s beautiful blue eyes were.  “The more physical evidence we have the less you have to tell them.  I’m going to protect you, Steve.”

There was a hitched in his breath and Tony thought he was going to burst into tears.  “I need to tell them,” he said in a voice so soft.  “They need to know.”

Tony thinks he understands.  “Okay,” he replied just as softly.  “You’ll tell them.  And I’ll be there protecting you.”  He smiled under the dire situation.  “Your chariot awaits my dear captain.  If you just give me a few minutes, we will be on our way.  JARVIS, let’s get the hell out of here.”

The window exploded behind him and the suit came flying in.  Tony took a deep breath and stuck out his arms and the suit quickly encased itself around him.  The HUD came to life and Tony couldn’t help but smile that he was back in a more comfortable setting.  He slid his arm around Steve’s waist and gently pulled him against the suit.  Steve wrapped his arms around the suit’s neck and buried his head into the chest.  The pillowcase was snatched off the floor and Tony took off through the blown out window.  He hovered outside for a few seconds before firing a missile.  The penthouse exploded.  It wasn’t much but it did give Tony some form of satisfaction.  Making sure that Steve was secure, Iron Man plotted his direction and flew back to the SHIELD facility.

********

Bruce was on the roof when they arrived.  The good doctor took one look at Steve and gave Tony a slight shake of his head.  Tony interpreted it as _this doesn’t look good_ head nod.

“Steve,” Bruce gently greeted.  “I’m glad you’re here.”  He cupped his elbow.  “Let’s go inside and have you checked out.”

Steve froze, his face quickly contorting to panic.  “Don’t worry buddy,” Tony reassured.  “Nothing bad is going to happen.  It’s Bruce.  Bruce is safe.  I promised that nothing is going to hurt you.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow and didn’t say a word.  Tony ignored the unspoken question and threw the pillowcase at his friend.

Steve seemed to relax for a second.  “Are you going be in there with me?”

Tony was going to say no but he realized that might not be the best answer.  The man in front of him and Bruce wasn’t the Steve they knew and loved.  He was just a shell of a man whose only grasp on reality was him.  He gave a reassuring smile.  “Of course, I’ll be there in a few minutes.  Gotta take the suit off, you can go ahead and get started.” 

“Only a few minutes?”

“Ten minutes top.”

Bruce smiled.  “Shall we go?  The sooner the exams are done, the sooner you can rest.”  He took Steve’s elbow again and led him off the roof.

Tony sagged once Steve and Bruce left.  He couldn’t tell if it was from relief or sadness but he knew it was emotional draining.  Shaking his head to clear his mind, Tony flew the suit to the nearest hanger.  He promised Steve that he’ll see him in ten minutes and he was going to make sure that he was in medical in less than five minutes.  He took a step forward as the suit began unfolding away from him.  His second step had the suit flying back to the pod.  His third step had Clint appearing.

“Don’t have the time to stop, Legolas,” Tony snapped, brushing past the archer.  “I have a deadline that I actually want to keep.”

“Natasha’s pissed,” Clint hissed keeping pace.  “You purposely cut off the feed!”

“We have enough evidence from earlier footage and I just gave Bruce a pillowcase of more evidence!” Tony snarled.  “And honestly I don’t give a _flying fuck_ if she’s pissed!  I’ll happily give her a rusty spoon so she can carve my balls out!”

Clint was silent, either from shock or avoiding the obvious question.  Tony didn’t care.  “How is he?” he whispered.

“Not good,” Tony answered honestly.  “The man I saw was not Steve.  Whoever took him, broke him.”

“Shit.”  There was a pause.  “What about you?”

“Just peachy,” he snarked.  “It’s not every day you get to see someone you care deeply about become an object.”

Clint grabbed his arm and gave a hard tug.  Tony spun on his feet and quickly found himself staring into grieving eyes.  “Are you and Steve….. _together?_ ”

Tony shook his head.  “No,” an unsteady sigh escaped from his lips, “I just realized how important he is to me in the last couple of weeks.”  He licked his lips.  “Clint, I need to go.  I promised Steve that I’ll be there.  And I don’t want to break that promise.”

Clint let go of his arm.  “Take care of him Tony.  There will be a debriefing once Fury gets here.  I think you should be there as Steve’s voice.”

“Personally, I rather not be there.”  He glanced at his watch and realized that he was still wearing the tuxedo that was covered in Steve’s semen.  “I have to go.”

Clint nodded and Tony took off.  He tugged the jacket off and tossed it to the first junior agent he saw.  “Burn it,” he ordered to the surprised agent.  “If you don’t and I find out, and believe me I will, I will make your life a personal hell.”

He didn’t hear the agent’s reply as he rounded the corner and jogged down the medical corridor.  Taking a wild guess, he walked through a pair of sliding doors on his left.  Bruce was alone, standing at a lab table, reading what appeared to be a file.  He looked up from his reading when he heard the sliding doors opening and gave a small smile to Tony.

“Perfect timing,” he greeted.  “It’s time for the invasive part of the exam.”

“Where’s Steve?” Tony asked, hoping he didn’t sound panicking.  The way Bruce thinned his lips, he figured he was wrong.

“Steve is through those doors.”  Bruce pointed at another set of sliding doors behind him.  “He was getting anxious and I told him that I’ll wait for you before moving forward.”  He picked up a small tranquilizer gun.  “I ran some numbers and the Hulk dart can be used on him.  He needs to rest and this will help him.”  He frowned.  “It doesn’t take a genius to know what happen to him.  I had patients in the past that had that look.  But on Steve….I mean….I’m not saying….God, Tony!  _It’s Steve!_ ”

“I know.  Did you look in the bag?”

Bruce chuckled darkly.  “And have the other guy out?  No.”  He waved towards the doors.  “Steve’s waiting, let’s go.”

Tony followed Bruce to the adjoining the exam room.  Steve was sitting on a bed wearing nothing but a medical robe with his head down and his hands in his lap.  The posture made Steve appeared younger and very innocent.  He looked up when Bruce gently rested his hand on his shoulder.  That distant look was still there and once again Tony wished he killed everyone in that ballroom.

“You’re here,” Steve said, sounding way too relieved.

“I promised you, didn’t I?” Tony remarked, leaning against a nearby counter.  He smiled when Steve gave his usual bashful smile.

Bruce pulled on a pair of exam gloves.  “Steve,” he began, “I’m going to start the exam and then there will be a series of questions.  It’s going to be uncomfortable but it needs to be done.”

Steve nodded.  “I understand.”

There were no more words when Bruce started the exam.  He kept it purely medical but Tony saw the minute twitches in his face when he wrote something on the clipboard.  Steve hardly showed any emotion during the exam.  He moved where Bruce told him to and answered when only asked.  He bit his lips and closed his eyes when the exam became to invasive which Tony moved closer to his friend.  He made sure not to touch him in fear that he might panic but he wanted Steve to know that he was nearby.  When the exam ended, the questions began.

According to Steve, it was a simple routine recon mission.  There was some information that HYDRA was collecting nuclear material for a future attack.  Steve’s mission was to go in, collect the data, and apprehend anyone that was there.  He knew something wasn’t right when he reached the location.  He tried to leave but something or someone hit him in the head.  When he awoke, he was blindfolded and bounded.  His captors teased him as they began their assault with objects and machines.

“Were they HYDRA?” Bruce asked as he scribbled away on the clipboard.

Steve shook his head.  “No,” he answered.  “Nothing about them screamed HYDRA.”  He took a deep breath.  “I wanted to break those bounds but I couldn’t.  Even if I could, I wouldn’t.”

Bruce and Tony looked at each other.  “Why is that?” Bruce asked.

“They told me they had everyone on the team and they made me listen.”

“Listen?”

“I was blindfolded but I heard everyone’s voices.”  Steve’s voice began to shake.  “I know now that it wasn’t real, but at the time I swore it was.  Tony’s was the worst; they always made sure I heard Tony’s.  I remembered the screams and the begging.”  He swallowed.  “I remembered hearing water.”

Tony snapped his head up.  “Water?”  He moved towards the nearest computer console and began typing.  SHIELD keeps forgetting that he could hack into their system without JARVIS’s help.  He found what he was looking for and hit enter.  “Did it sound like this?”

The exam room was filled with noises of struggle, water, and pleadings.  Steve’s eyes went wide.  “Yes,” he whispered.  “That was one of them.”  Bruce was at his side when he began to shake.

“Afghanistan,” Tony answered hotly.  “They used Afghanistan.”

It was the last straw and Tony was consumed by intense overwhelming rage.  He pushed himself away from the console and stormed out of medical.  He pushed agents out of his way as he moved through the corridor, finding the man that he desperately wanted to hit and inform.  He ran a hand over his face and realized that he was still wearing the mini-HUD glasses.  The lenses gave the familiar data of the facility when he flipped the connection on.

“JARVIS!  Find me Fury!” he barked.

_“Director Fury is in a conference room that is one corridor away from you.”_

Tony ran as he followed JARVIS’s directions.  Perverse pleasure flowed through him when he kicked open the doors to the conference rooms.  He could smell the electricity in the air before spotting Thor standing in the corner looking liked he was going to declare war on the world.  Clint and Natasha were seated at the table with frowns on their faces.  Tony knew from previous missions that those two were vibrating in pure rage.  Fury glanced up and gave him an unimpressed look.

“They knew,” Tony said in a low voice.

The tension in the room grew and Fury actually looked surprised.  “HYDRA?”

Tony shook his head.  “No,” he answered.  “Not HYDRA.  Someone knew his weakness.  Someone knew how to torture Steve.  They used information on us to torture him.”  He narrowed his eyes.  “They used Afghanistan.  And that was only the beginning.”

“SHIELD,” Natasha whispered icily.  Her voice echoed in the stunned silence.

Tony pointed a finger at Fury.  “You better start talking, Nicky, because I can sic Bruce on you.  He doesn’t even have to hulk-out.”

As if on cue, Bruce walked in and gave everyone a strained smile.  “Steve has been sedated and stabilized.  I would tell you what I’ve confirmed but that would be a very bad idea.”

Thor pushed himself away from the wall.  “We must find this dishonorable coward!  They must pay for the horror they placed on our Captain!”

“The Avengers are not getting involved.”

The room froze as every head turn towards Fury.  “Excuse me?” Clint growled.  His fingers twitched in action.  “We are _so_ getting involved.”

“We have every right to get involved,” Natasha replied evenly, her eyes flashed murder.  “He is our friend.”

 “I don’t give a flying monkey’s ass!” Fury snapped.  “I said that the Avengers are not getting involved!  I have assigned this matter to someone else.”

“Thirteen?” Natasha asked approval was apparent in her voice.

Tony perked up at the name.  Sharon Carter would be perfect for the investigation.  She was quick, efficient, and deadly.  He remembered how ruthless she was when she went undercover as his dumb blond arm candy as they searched for the person that was selling SI company secrets.  No blood was spilled but the culprit was scared shitless.  And since Steve was her BFF, she would personally make sure that the bastard’s body would never be found.

“Not Agent Carter,” Fury snapped, destroying Tony’s fantasy of Sharon removing the bad guy’s heart out with her bare hand.  “I need them alive.  I want to know why they went after Captain America.” 

“Then who?” Tony growled.

“Coulson,” Fury answered.  “He has a team.”

Tony didn’t miss the way Clint flinched at the man’s name.  He’ll have to ask the archer later to find out if that relationship fizzled.  “You just said that you wanted this person alive and you’re sending Coulson?” he said with a laugh.  “Plus his boy band is so damn loyal that they’ll be willing to kick puppies just to get a smile from him.”

“As of right now, the Avengers are on leave until further notice,” Fury ordered, ignoring Tony completely.  “Captain Rogers will be required to see an appointed SHIELD therapist.  You will not get involved in Coulson’s investigation unless otherwise noted.”  He glared at Natasha and Clint.

“And what do we do in the mean time?” Bruce asked, sounding annoyed.  “Except for Tony, we don’t exactly have a job.”

“Pepper might disagree with you on that,” Tony offered.

Fury sighed.  “I’m sure SHIELD will have something for you to do, Dr. Banner.”  He looked at everyone in the room.  “Listen, I know you want to find the bastard.”  His voice was soft and sympathetic.  “I would love to see the Hulk rip every limb off, no one deserves to go through that hell.  Coulson will find the asshole and justice will be served.”  He narrowed his eye.  “If this is somehow SHEILD related, then we have to keep this under the radar.  Everyone is dismissed.”

The tone of his voice spoke violence if anyone was going to argue the point.  One by one, everyone left the room.  Tony was about to exit the room when Fury called out to him.  “Hill wants a statement from you regarding to your discovery of Captain America.”

Tony paused at the door and quickly counted to ten.  “There’s nothing to say,” he answered darkly.  “What I saw will only be between Steve and me.”

“I’ll let her know that information is classified,” Fury answered.  Tony had to leave the conference room because he swore he could hear the approval in the director’s voice.

****

Tony wasn’t surprised to see Sharon in Steve’s room.  She was leaning over him, gently sweeping the sweat soaked hair away from his forehead.  He cleared his throat and she raised her head, her smile was sad and out of place.

“Hey boss,” Sharon greeted jokingly.  Their favorite joke fell flat as her eyes were filled with tears.

“Not your boss,” Tony answered, forcing a grin on his face.  He glanced down at Steve in bed.  The man was twitching and whimpering in his sleep.  “Nightmares?”

Sharon nodded.  “I’m praying they’re war or ice related.”

“Does Peggy know?”

“Yes and no,” she answered voice shaky.  “I just told her that something went wrong during a mission and Steve was hurt and decided to take a leave of absence until further notice.  It’s not the best story that I came up with but you know how she is, she would’ve found out through other channels and war would’ve been declared.”  Real laughter escaped from her throat.  “She’s worse than you.”

Tony smiled and preened at the complement.  “Learned from the best.”

The two were silent and watched Steve struggle through another nightmare.  It should be creepy for them to stand over the super soldier while he was asleep but for Tony, it felt like he was keeping the promise he made at the penthouse.  He would protect Steve.  He would do everything in his power to make sure that his friend was safe.  Sharon startled him from his thoughts by taking his hand and placing it in Steve’s hand.  He raised his eyebrow at the deadly agent.

“I ran into Melinda before seeing Steve,” she started her focus was on the two hands.  “She told me that Phil was assigned to the investigation.”  She turned her head and looked into Tony’s eyes.  “He will find them, you know that.”

Tony tried to smile.  “Of course he will, he’s Steve’s number one fan-boy.”

Sharon smiled.  “He respects Steve and like everyone else, he’ll do anything for him.”  She raised an eyebrow.  “He’s also doing it for you.  He knows what it’s like to be helpless.”

Confusion crossed over his face.  “Sharon,” he started, “Steve and I are not together.”

The smile that Sharon gave made her eyes sparkle, like she knew something and he didn’t.  Tony instantly thought of Peggy during her visits at the mansion, her eyes always sparkling when Howard starts ranting about something and accusing her for finding it humorous.  It was a strange memory to have but it was a happy memory. 

She cupped his face.  “Take care of him, boss man,” she whispered kissing his cheek before walking away.

Tony watched her leave before realizing that he was still holding Steve’s hand.  Instead of letting go, he brought the hand to his lips and gently placed a kiss on the knuckles.  He swore he felt Steve gripped a little bit tighter.  A small part of him wondered if Steve returned his feelings, that maybe this attraction isn’t one-sided.  That maybe something could happen between them.

“Believe it or not, I’m a patient man,” he muttered into the hand.  “I’ll wait for you.  No matter how long it will take, I will wait for you.”


	5. Accidental Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another MCU meets Marvel 3490 and it follows the movies! This one is the newest of the nuggets and I've been enjoying how this story has been panning out. It's cliche but who doesn't love a good cliche story?

The frantic pounding on the door startled Steve Rogers from his sleep.  Disoriented and his heart pounding, he blinked a couple of times trying to figure out why it was so loud and bright until he realized that he had fallen asleep on his couch while watching the national broadcast of the Dodgers playing the Washington Nationals.  “What!” he yelled, rubbing his face trying to get the sleep out of his eyes and pushing back the strange sense of déjà vu when Bucky locked himself out of the apartment in ‘39.

“Steve!” a familiar feminine voice cried through the door.  “Please open the door!”

The panic in the voice made Steve rush to the door, there was a tell-tale snap of the hinges when he swung it open.  “Toni?” he asked staring at the petite woman in front of him.  “What are you doing here?  I thought you were in California for the rest of the week?”  Then he truly saw the woman.  “ _What’s wrong?_ ” he breathed out.

Toni wrung her hands as she looked around as if she was expecting to see someone appear in the hallway which was highly probable.  She was upset, truly upset.  Her short curly hair was frizzing out, her tanned skin had an unhealthy pallor, her eyes were puffy and blood-shot, and her nose was running.  She burst into tears when she managed to look at Steve.

“I’m pregnant!” she wailed and collapsed into his body.

Steve caught her before she face planted into his chest and frantically looked around praying that the creepy old lady down the hall wasn’t peeking out of her door.  He didn’t know what to do but he was smart to know that petting her head would not be the best course of action.  He gently guided her into the apartment and set her on the couch.  The engineer let out an unlady-like snort which he promptly pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her.

“Always prepared,” she laughed weakly as she accepted the item.  “Always the gentleman.”  Then she burst into tears.

Without even thinking he went to his kitchen and produced a whiskey bottle and two glasses.  His hands shook as he poured more than a finger worth in each glass before hurrying back to Toni.  She accepted the glass and took a sip.  The look on her face was horrified and quickly spit the contents back into the glass.

“Did you just give me alcohol?” Toni practically shrieked.

“Ah….yes?” Steve responded, clearly confused.  She always accepted a glass when she visits him in D.C.; in fact he made sure that he kept her favorite whiskey in his apartment.

“You don’t give pregnant women alcohol!” she shrieked.

“You don’t?”  Now he was confused because he clearly remembered Mrs. O’Hagen sitting on the stoop with his mother gossiping while having a pint during the summer.  Then it dawned it oh him.  “You’re _pregnant!_ ”

Toni rolled her eyes.  “Oh my god,” she mumbled.  “The preggos were probably doing keg-stands in your day!”  She placed the glass on the coffee table.  “I’m pregnant,” she answered somberly.

Steve ran his hand through his hair, trying to stay calm.  He couldn’t understand why he felt so light-headed; the child wasn’t his even though they had slept together on several occasions.  The last time they had sex was when he came back from Russia after another fruitless search for Bucky and that was three months ago.  She was supposed to see him next week after her business trip and his last Senate hearing.  She was going to help him pack up his belongings and to quote “christen every single room in this dismal hellhole, many times if we have to.”

More importantly, he couldn’t have children.  His poor health made sure that his sperm count was non-existent and sterilization was the nasty side-effect from the serum.

He licked his lips; a nervous tick he thought disappeared during the war.  “How are you feeling?”

“Scared,” Toni sighed.  “It’s like Afghanistan, Vanko, Killian, New York, HYDRA, and extremis all wrapped up in a nice baby blanket.”  Her hands shook when she ran them through her hair.  “I don’t know what to do.”

Steve sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.  She leaned into him, her head resting on his chest as she ran a finger along his arm.  “I was always careful.  Always had a condom on me and I took the pill religiously.  Forced men to wear condoms, no matter how drunk I was.  I was more afraid to catch a disease than getting pregnant.  Then after Afghanistan, I stopped taking the pill because it messed with the reactor and I wasn’t having sex because my body was mutilated.”  Steve wanted to argue Toni’s opinion about her body but decided that listening was the better course of action.  “Even when I was with Happy, I was always careful.  Of course Vanko happened and Happy realized that he couldn’t handle that.”  That was a huge lie.  Happy and Toni had a lot of reasons why they couldn’t be a couple; the fear of losing each other to a madman was one of many.  “You were the first person I slept with without a condom.  Do you remember that?”

He buried his nose into her hair and smiled.  He remembered that night, it was right after shawarma, in their exhausted state they went into another yelling match.  Words were thrown and tempers were flared and then there were apologies and naked kisses and screams of pleasure.  “You freaked out,” a chuckled escaped.  “It took me almost thirty minutes to explain that I couldn’t get you pregnant.”

“Fifteen minutes,” she sniffed.  “I still made you jerk into a petri dish to make sure that you were telling the truth.”  She snuggled deeper into his chest and let out a sigh.  “After the reactor was removed and my breasts reconstructed, I felt more confident in dating again.”  She let out a laugh.  “Of course sleeping with you was always an ego-booster!”

“Gee thanks,” Steve replied dryly but he kissed the top of her head to show that he wasn’t insulted. 

Tony was self-conscious about her body.  Yinsen made the difficult decision to remove her breasts when he saved her life which probably saved her sanity because the Ten Rings never touched her because they viewed her as disgusting.  Being breastless made the Iron Man suit easy to design and gave it androgynous look even though the media assumed it was a man.  Her beauty was in her strength and her sexiness was her intelligence and that was more important in Steve’s mind.  Her reconstructed breasts were a work of art; Steve held great pride in them because he designed them, gave them life.  The Neanderthal in him loved them because basically they were boobs.

“You remember Tiberius?”

Steve blinked at the non-sequitur.  “Barely,” he answered hoping that she didn’t hear the lie.  He met the man once and wanted to strangle the arrogant prick.  He was a maggot of a man that represented a past that Toni shouldn’t dwell on.

“He was in New York last month.”

“What does that have to do with you being – oh.”

“Yeah.  Oh.”

“Does he know?”  His heart stopped when she broke into a heart-wrenching sob.  “Toni.  Doll.”  He pulled her tighter into his arms and rocked her.  “What happened?”


	6. New Story Posted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm the Pillar of Strength for the Pedestal I Admire

Just thought I'll make a quick cross-reference!

After a couple of requests and an internal debate, I've posted _I'm the Pillar of Strength for the Pedestal I Admire._

So if you're interested in seeing how the story pans out, take a look!

 

Thank you! 


	7. N&N - What about the seals, Steve?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve forgot about one tiny little detail when he took Graham to the Prospect Park Zoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this tidbit but alas, I couldn't fit it into the story. And I ran into a wall because I didn't know how to continue which was also a bummer.
> 
> Not sure where to put this in the Nature/Nurture timeline, it could be during N&N or before Never Let Go and Precursor.
> 
> Basically it's one of many Steve's epic parenting failures.
> 
> Enjoy!

“So,” Tony drawled out, trying his best to look disappointed but failing miserably.  Because seriously, this was the funniest thing he ever heard.  “Can you tell me what exactly happened to the seals?”  Graham shifted uncomfortably on the couch; he opened his mouth but quickly closed it.  “Let me be more specific, what happened to the seals on July 3, 1935?”

“It was my fault dad,” Graham answered there was a hint of panic in his voice.  “I asked Steve to take me to the zoo.  I wasn’t expecting to get in trouble.”

Tony gave his son a comforting smile.  It was amazing how easy it was for him to acknowledge that he has a son in a few short months.  “I’m not mad at you, kiddo,” he replied and Graham visibly relaxed.  “I’m just curious on why the man with the plan was banned from Prospect Park Zoo on opening day.  For life, I might add.”

Steve just shrugged and snuggled deeper into the couch.  “Bucky made me do it,” he answered biting his lower lip.  The damn man was trying not to laugh.

“So if Bucky jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, you would too?”  He rolled his eyes when Steve burst out laughing.  “Your mother had said that, hasn’t she?”

“More or less,” Steve chuckled.  He wiped his eyes and let out a sigh that sounded like a giggle.  “In my defense, I didn’t know that was still enforced.”

“Did you happen to think about my reputation when you were called in the security booth?  No!  All you were thinking about was _hey I haven’t been to the zoo since it opened!_   Zoo officials were at a lost because technically you are banned for life but you’re still alive!  Plus it wouldn’t do the zoo well if word got out if Captain America was kicked out his neighborhood zoo.”

Steve looked aghast.  “I would never talk to the press.”

“Some idiot will,” Tony replied.  “But don’t worry; a large anonymous donation was made and Steven Grant Rogers has agreed to volunteer his time, when available.  Of course the zoo officials politely asked that you should stay away from the animals because, well, you know, the seals.”

“I don’t remember volunteering.”

“Because I did it for you.”  Tony glanced at Graham.  “Since you’re here and not getting arrested, Bruce mentioned that he’s free today and wanted to test that theory that you told him about.”

Graham immediately perked up.  “Really?!  Awesome!”  He launched off the couch.  “I’m heading there now!”

Tony grabbed his shoulder as the boy tried darting by.  “No explosions,” he warned.

Graham gave him a bright smile which Tony found himself returning.  It was refreshing to see Graham happy and carefree; it felt like a do-over on his own lonely and scared childhood.  “I’m not making any promises.  Bye Steve!”  Then boy quickly bounded off to find Bruce.

Steve slowly stood up and gave Tony an innocent smile.  “I feel really bad.”  He ran a hand through his hair.  “Graham is such a great kid and he was asking me all these questions about Brooklyn and I decided that the best way to learn about Brooklyn is to see Brooklyn.”  His smile went bigger.  “And I forget about the seal incident.  But at least we saw the park before the zoo called you.”

“He’s really a great kid,” Tony agreed proudly.  “Sometimes, I wonder if my childhood would’ve been like…,” he shook his head.  “I’m trying my best.”

“You’re doing more than that!” Steve exclaimed.  “You’re amazing father, Tony.  You do all these things without even thinking.  Me, I keep screwing up.  I say the wrong things during meals or I overestimate my strength.”  The laugh was uneasy.  “He makes me nervous and I don’t want him to hate me.”

Tony snorted.  “He loves you.  I think he has a crush on you.”


End file.
